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I-134 and I-864 Affidavit of Support and Adjustment of Status

Transcript of the above video:

As the title to this video suggests we are discussing the I-134 Affidavit of Support, the I-864 Affidavit of Support, the adjustment of status process, and how all these things sort of interplay with one another.

The first thing to take away from this video is, there are two other videos on this channel discussing specifically the legally binding nature or lack thereof of both the I-864 and the I-134 Affidavit of Support. I urge those who are specifically interested in that topic to go ahead and check out those videos.

We are talking specifically about the I-864 in the context of the adjustment of status but those who have watched those other videos, it is probably a good idea to watch those videos first, come back and watch this one. The I-134 associated with the initial K-1’s issuance is not considered legally binding although the I-864 is.

So how does this work? Well first of all let's quote directly from US Citizenship and Immigration Services, uscis.gov chapter 24.5 Enforceable Affidavits of Support, quoting directly: “Section B: persons required to have sponsorship”. Quoting further: "The following intending immigrants are required to have Form 1-864 filed on their behalf. Immediate relatives including K Non immigrants adjusting to LPR status and orphans unless the orphan would become a citizen upon adjustment of status pursuant to Section 320 of the Act”. So clearly in here it notes including K non-immigrants adjusting to LPR status. What does that mean? Well abroad, they're going to be using the I-134 which is not strictly speaking legally binding but in order to adjust status and thereby remain, presumably indefinitely in the United States, that individual is going to go ahead and need to sign, to have an I-864 submitted on their behalf and someone who is an American citizen or lawful permanent resident is going to need to sign that legally binding document and thereby bind themselves to be the subject of recompense in the event that that immigrant goes on what are called means-tested benefits within the United States. So basically if that K immigrant or K non-immigrant adjust to immigrant status after the signature of the I-864 and the presumable adjustment of status occurs, the American citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident who signed the affidavit with regard to that individual, if that individual is to go on things like welfare benefits, means-tested benefits associated with the United States, that individual may be held liable for recompense to the Federal Government or the US Government with respect to paying back whatever benefits were granted to the individual immigrant in question.

So in the context of the K-1 Visa, and the adjustment of status process, it is kind of this weird situation where you deal with one affidavit and then another affidavit at a later date but if one looks at it in the context of the fact that the K-1 Visa is really narrowly, if you look at it in a narrow scope, is still strictly speaking a non-immigrant visa which only provides 90 days of lawful status, this kind of seeming dichotomy starts to make sense.